Open Your Mind to Bilingual Classrooms

Re Robin Abcarian’s “Sunday Reader Angst: Getting Real About the Estate” (Aug. 29): What a disappointment. I love Abcarian’s columns. She isn’t afraid to take risks, usually for the downtrodden. She seems so real when she gives us a glimpse into taking care of an ill parent or her newborn daughter.

How could she be so cavalier about rejecting the neighborhood schools, and especially the bilingual classes, without at least visiting them and talking to the teachers?

I drove my daughter to a school out of her attendance area especially to attend a bilingual kindergarten class last year. She loved school. She came home singing Spanish and English songs, full of stories about the day’s activities including learning why fat is bad for your heart and what animals live in the sea and how they eat. She has a child’s delight and appreciation for the special place that is school.

LINDA J. DILLON

Ventura

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Robin Abcarian writes that she would not have her child attend the local grade school if she has to be in a bilingual class. I disagree with this attitude. I believe all of grade school should be bilingual, Spanish and English.

This is not to deny that English is the official language of the country, but to bring people of diverse cultures closer together by eliminating an obvious barrier, lack of communication.

WILLIAM F. ZWICK

Placentia